Habits of the Domestic Firestorm Duo
by sheneya
Summary: Short little looks at how Ronnie and Martin have been learning to work with their new abilities, but sometimes, from the outside, it can be hard to tell who is actually the adult in this strange little relationship. Brought over from Ao3 and contains spoilers for the Legends of Tomorrow Trailer.
1. Where I lay My Head

Oliver looked around at the the remaining members of their small team standing in his home. It had been a difficult battle, but after they'd finished, Heatwave, Captain Cold and Ray had quickly gone to wherever they usually went to fix their injuries. Sara had somehow managed to avoid any major injuries, as had Firestorm and Flash, however Oliver was sticking around to make sure everyone was sorted out before he also left to tend the large gash across his leg.

As he tentatively helped Sara bind the last shallow slice across her arm, a light gasp from Barry had him looking up to notice the other man catching an obviously exhausted Firestorm as the other man wavered on his feet. Trying be unobtrusive, he kept an ear out as his sometimes partner started speaking.

"It's alright, Ronnie... and Doctor Stein, I know you're as tired as the rest of us, but you need to separate first."

Firestorms' reply was too garbled for Oliver to understand, but it was obvious what he said as the melded superhero finally separated into his two parts. There was a pause as both men seemed about to drop at the same time, but the older man managed to recover and catch his much more drained partner before he hit the ground.

Oliver watched for a few seconds as Barry checked the two men for any potentially missed injuries, before turning back to Saras' now bandaged wound. Giving her another quick check over, he pronounced her fit as possible. Before watching her as she double-checked herself before nodding in agreement and heading out the door. Accepting her seemingly abrupt departure with ease, He quickly turned and walked over to where the last three where still standing.

A quick look over them had him offering the use of his spare rooms for the night, Ronnie Raymond was clearly in no condition to make his way home, and Stein and Barry were not much better off, both barely standing. A few promises to arrange to have their significant others called was all it took before all three where heading towards the open indicated rooms. Oliver thought it was strange, but he felt a little happy about the trust they seemed to have quickly given him.

In a flash, He thought Barry would have appreciated the pun if he was there, he quickly made the promised phonecalls and assurances about the continued health and safety of the people still within his walls, before heading up to his own room.

before he got there however, he noticed the while Barry was already in his room, Doctor Stein And Ronnie had yet to part from each others company, both where still inside the one room. a bit worried about the two tired members of his and Barrys' team, he quickly decided to check up on them through the still partially open doorway. A quick peek saw a half awake Doctor Stein, he appeared to be following an almost fast asleep Ronnie, picking up discarded clothing.

"Ronald, I know you're not very awake, but please, we are guests in Mr Queens house... Please... At least keep your boxers on."

At this admonishment, there was a slight pause. Oliver quickly looked around to see that the scientists' slight pleading had indeed stopped the younger man, whose thumbs had already slid beneath the waist of his boxer shorts. For a few moments, all the younger man did was blink blearily in the direction of his counterpart, before, thankfully, he lifted his hands away from the only thing stopping Oliver and Doctor Stein getting a unintentional look at... his entire person. For a few seconds, his response was as garbled as before, but after half a minute, it was mostly intelligible.

"Sorry Doctor Stein, I was so tired I kind of forgot where I was."

It seemed like simply responding to the doctor had taken the last of the other mans energy, because once again, he wobbled for a second before Doctor Stein caught him as he for the second time, almost dropped to the floor. For a minute, there was a minor struggle as the scientist, half walked, half carried the younger man over to his bed. A few tugs on the bedding, and a little more struggling, and Stein managed to haul Ronnie into the bed and under the covers before standing up... only to collapse forward and down onto it. With a soft curse, Oliver ran forward, worried that their had been an injury to Stein that he and Barry had missed, however he was quickly reassured by the soft snores coming from the doctors mouth, it appeared exhaustion had finally caught up with him and he had simply fallen asleep where he stood.

Watching for a few seconds to make absolutely sure, Oliver quickly realized that his own sleep deprived state was going to make it impossible for him to maneuver the older man to his own room, but at the same time, he didn't want to leave the other man in what was clearly an uncomfortable position. As he started thinking of a way to move the doctor, his pondering was interrupted for a moment as the still fast asleep Ronnie suddenly rolled away from the awkwardly positioned Stein.

Olivers' eyes widened as he noticed the action, sometimes he forgot how large the beds in his house were, being tired himself, he had pointed the three men to the closest random rooms, and this one contained a double bed. Checking out how the doctor was folded over the bed, Oliver quickly figured out the best way to move the older man into the roomy bed. After a few false starts, he managed to haul the scientist under the very covers the other man had pulled down for Ronnie and get them back over both men.

It was a testament to how comfortable the two had become around each other since their first merge that neither of them really woke up or shifted except to more comfortably arrange their limbs.

Almost without realizing, Oliver gently smoothed the bedcovers over each man before starting towards the door. "Strange." he thought. "I'd never planned to team up with anyone, but having these people around is easier than it seems."

With this thought on his mind, he switched off the light and shut the door before heading to his own room again. For some reason however he found himself walking into the room Barry had taken, unnoticed as the other man slept on, he gently tugged the edge of the blankets that had been slowly moving down his partners chest back into position, before again moving towards his own room after closing the door behind him. Pulling his own sweat-stained shirt off, he finally stumbled into his own bed, ready to sleep for as long as he possibly could. Just as he was falling asleep, he had a last sudden thought as he faded out.

"I hope Ronnie doesn't accidentally kick his shorts off anytime tonight, that would really be an uncomfortable position for them to wake up in."


	2. Before I Break my Morning Bread Part 1

Martin Steins' eyes fluttered a bit as a slight shadow passed across the early morning sun. Later on he would say it was one of the testaments to his ability to adapt to his increasingly strange new life, that he quickly recognized it as a freshly showered Oliver Queen, or The Arrow, as the doctor had found out during their first meeting, quietly leaving a note on the bedside table. However, once the military abduction paranoia that still sometimes woke him up at night had been calmed by the recognition, his still very present state of exhaustion had quickly pulled back into the sleep his body craved.

It wasn't until the start of the afternoon that Martin woke up on his own. He mentally ticked another point on his adaptability chart when he immediately registered the warm, heavy seeming blanket splayed across his chest as the Still sleeping Ronnie Raymond, although the scientist still enjoyed the funny reactions he got when he called the younger man by his full name, Ronald.

Doctor Stein startled slightly when, in a seemingly odd contrast to his sleeping state, a muttered complaint about the hated name came from the other man. Waiting to see if Ronnie would wake up, he finally concluded that, apparently, their slight mental connection while separated from each other was more open when one or both of them was sleeping. He also figured the two of them would need to discuss that some time, as he now had a good idea where some of his stranger dreams might be coming from, and Ronnie might be having a similar problem on his end.

Figuring it was a discussion that could wait until both of them were up and awake, Martin instead turned his head towards the bedside table that he still vaguely remembered seeing Oliver Queen leave a note, a quick glance told him his instincts were indeed right, lifting his head slightly further up, he was able to read it. it was a simple note, indicating the fact that the room the two of them were currently in had an en suite bathroom located to the left, and that both he and Ronnie were allowed to make use of it. The few milliseconds it took for his mind to process this information, was apparently also enough time for his body to notice that, yes, it did in fact, rather desperately need to use said facilities.

However, this reaction was quickly followed by the thought that, at this moment, he still had a breathing, slightly heavy, human shaped blanket to get out from under. One that had a rather powerful protective streak that had recently expanded to include Doctor Stein himself. He didn't like the idea of waking a man who still clearly needed more sleep either. The best thing he could try to do was find a way out that got him to the much needed bathroom and still let Ronald sleep. Luckily, thanks to their little partnership, he had gotten used to finding himself in a bed with the younger man, as such, he'd developed a number of escape techniques.

The first attempt, he just tried to wiggle his way out, at no point would he consider it an elegant wiggle, if wiggles could be considered as such, it was also, a failure, the other mans currently unnecessary protective streak, had his arms tightening around the older man before he'd wiggled an inch. His second attempt, which also failed, consisted of him trying to gently lever the younger mans' arm off himself and onto a conveniently placed pillow. The doctor wondered, at times, if Ronnie was aware how similar his arms were to a vice... or an octopus.

A few more attempts later, Martin realized it was no use, he'd have to pull out the big guns, well, aside from actually waking the other man up. Twisting slightly in Ronnies' grip, he manouvered himself until he was facing the younger man, his previous movements had pulled the blankets down slightly, which made his job easier. For a few seconds, his eyes searched for the best possible area on Ronalds' torso. Making his decision... he extended a finger... and poked. Altering his angle slightly, he poked again, when this garnered a twitch he focused and poked again. A third prod had Ronnie finally twisting away from the offending digit. However, even with this, Martin was still only about halfway free.

Focusing again, he chose another point, this one close to the other mans belly button, but slightly off-centre. A few more prods and finally Ronald was flopping off of the doctor and onto his back, quickly taking advantage of the reprieve, he scrambled from the bed and towards the bathroom before the other mans unconsciously protective nature kicked in again.

Taking care of business, he made his way to the sink to wash his hands and check himself in the mirror above it. Under the brightness of the lightbulb above him, the lack of a shower the night before was clearly noticeable. A quick sniff had him concluding he smelt about as good as he looked. Unfortunately, he thought, a shower would not be possible without a change of clothes. just as that thought crossed his mind, a quiet knock from outside the bedroom door beyond the bathroom had him quickly exiting to open the other door.

Opening the door revealed a sheepish looking Barry Allen, the other man was holding out a couple of sets of pajamas and some towels. Waiting for the scientist to take them, he looked over to where Ronnie seemed to be stirring, although he wasn't yet awake. Looking back at the older man, he smiled slightly.

"Oliver thought you guys might like to clean up, these are some spare pajamas, they might be a little tight and short on you both as they belonged to a former partner of his, but they should do until this evening when he can get your clothes clean and dry, probably not until after dinner though."

Martin returned the smile as he took the offered clothing. Noticing the slightly uncomfortable look the younger man had at the mention of The Arrows' former partner, he decided not to ask after them. however Barry seemed to notice that he had an unanswered question, as he quickly responded.

"He's not dead, it's just not really possible for him to be around right now."

The unexpected relief that they wouldn't be wearing a dead man's clothes surprised the older man, but, in his own funny way, Barry seemed to have picked up on the underlying discomfort Martin himself wasn't willing to think about and decided to ease it.

"Thank you Mister Allen."

After exchanging a few more words, Barry left to let Oliver know he'd passed the items to Doctor Stein and, after quickly laying out the clothes for Ronald, Martin headed towards the inviting looking shower. Happily stripping out of his dirty and smelly clothing, he quickly turned the water on... then yelped as he, in his euphoric rush to get to scrubbed off, forgot to wait for the water to heat up.

A little while into his rather enjoyable shower, he shifted his eyes to the bathroom door as the distinctive sounds of one Ronald Raymond stumbling out of the bed reached his ears. There was some grumbling and shuffling sounds as the other man made his way around the room, followed by a slight pause as he took in the note left behind by Oliver and the clothes laid out on the chair. A little more muttering and shuffling occurred, before it stopped out the front of the bathroom door. realizing that the younger man was probably suffering the same problem he had during his wake up, the doctor called out a quick. "It's open." Which was quickly followed by the sound and light of the door opening to let a desperate Ronnie in to relieve himself.

They spent a short moment in a companionable silence, before Martin couldn't resist a slight teasing. "Sleep Well Ronald?" Ronnies' only response was to flush the toilet, garnering the older scientists' second yelp of the day, this time at the sudden rush of hot water. His revenge complete, Ronnie quickly told the older man he'd take his clothes out and pile it up with the ones he'd automatically removed the night before. Tactfully, Martin decided not to mention the almost show one Oliver Queen had nearly received at the time.

After deciding to spend only a few more minutes to get himself clean, he finished his shower, dried himself, and quickly got the borrowed clothes on, they were a little too tight across his stomach, but still quite comfortable, before opening the door. "It's free... just toss, what you're still wearing, out the door and I'll try to find out where to take our clothes for cleaning while you have a shower."

Standing up quickly, the other man nodded, before moving into the bathroom. A second later, a hand holding a pair of boxers was thrust through through the mostly open doorway. Using the currently dirty shirt he was holding... he couldn't really tell who's it was, even though he'd only recently removed his own clothes, he grabbed the item and went out the bedroom door to find either the laundry, or someone to lead him there.


	3. Before I Break my Morning Bread Part 2

Martin looked around, after fifteen minutes of wandering around looking for either a laundry room or someone to direct him there, he'd found himself where he currently was... thoroughly lost. The simple fact was, even though they'd been working together as a team for a while now, He'd never actually been to Oliver Queens' house before, and it was, for lack of a better word, vast, at least to someone whose largest living space during his life, was a small to medium sized suburban home.

Abruptly, he thought perhaps he should have waited until either Barry or Oliver had come by to check up on him and Ronald, but at the time, finding the laundry didn't seem like an impossible mission. Sighing, he sat down on one of the nearby seats that lined the hallways to think his way back, because one of the main reasons he'd gotten lost in the first place was that he'd forgotten one of his turns. He just needed to figure out which one. As if on cue, his stomach decided to make a loud proclamation, he was getting hungry.

Distracted as he was by his current problem, it took the scientist a few minutes to notice the still slightly unnerving effect of Ronnie nudging at one end of their shared mental connection, which was somewhat stronger when they were near each other. For a few seconds he considered ignoring it, but the other man's protective nature was a force when awakened, he responded, sending the mental impression of being lost across their link, followed by some emotional reassurance when the younger mans first reaction was fear... apparently his previous kidnapping by the military weighed heavier on the other man's mind than he'd previously thought.

After a few more minutes, another nudge on the edge of his mind gave the impression that he was currently being searched for, trying to figure out a way he could be of assistance, he looked around, at other times, when they'd tried hard enough, they were sometimes able to send each other images. It wasn't easy, but it could be done. Finally. he settled on a picture on the wall opposite his chair. Oliver had a number of pictures along his walls, but this was the first time Doctor Stein had seen a landscape painting, most of what he'd passed appeared to be either still life or the occasional photo.

Focusing very hard on the picture, he opened the link he had with Ronald as far as he was able to. For a little while, he wasn't sure if it was working, but soon Ronnie's accepting mental prod had him breathing a sigh of relief, not due to being afraid of never being found, that was impossible, but he wasn't worried about admitting that being by himself in unfamiliar territory, no matter how friendly, did disturb him, just a bit, but it was there.

After a little less than five minutes, he was greeted by the arrival of all three of the people in the house. With a slightly apologetic look, Oliver started to say something, only to be verbally run over by Barry.

"I'm so sorry, I should have remembered you hadn't been here before..."

These words where all Martin really heard before the young mans voice sped up so fast, the scientist was only half-joking when he asked if Barry was using his superspeed to talk. Apparently he'd chosen the right move, as the slight tension dissipated as first Ronnie, followed by a slightly out of breath Barry, let out, what they would forever assert where manly, giggles. Even Oliver looked a bit relieved at the doctors unharmed, if embarrassed state. Somewhat wryly, Doctor Stein held up the pile of dirty clothing he was still holding.

"So, where would the laundry be then?"

With a shake of his head, Oliver quickly led them all out of the hallway, a few turns and Stein was happy to find himself in a more familiar area, more direction changes after that and he found himself standing outside the bedroom he'd left to look for the laundry in the first place. Seemingly without a care, Oliver turned down a completely different corridor to the one Martin had originally travelled down. Stareing, the older man tried not to turn a deeper shade of pink when he found out that the laundry was just four rooms away from where he'd first been put into a bed for the night.

Thankfully, Oliver simple reached for the clothing the older man was still holding and tossed the barely identifiable pile of material into the washing machine. Waiting a few moments, the whole group watched the items slosh around before the unmistakeable sounds of hunger growled, this time from two stomachs. A quick look around told Doctor Stein that his own stomachs' ravenous snarl had been joined by that of his younger partners, prompting Ronnie to duck his head a little and blush.

A quick look over had Oliver deciding that, even though dinner was only a few hours away, they had been sleeping so long, they definitely needed some food in them.

"Kitchen's this way, we can throw together a few sandwiches, or something, to tide us over until dinner is finished."

Like the worlds most unlikely set of ducklings, Ronnie, Martin and Barry seemed to line up, behind Oliver as they marched their way towards sustenance. Once there, the leader of the hungry troupe let them all know where everything was and invited them to make or eat whatever food took their fancy. Upon seeing the array of food before them, Both Barry and Ronnie decided to opt out of the sandwiches, instead going for a spread of a few snack foods, mostly healthy, some cold slices of meat and a light salad, Oliver opted on the snacks only, stating he'd actually had something to eat not long before the doctor had woken up. Meanwhile Martin decided on something filling, but simpler, throwing together a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and making himself a cup of coffee. Noticing that in their rush to get food, the others had forgotten about drinks, a quick ask around and he was also pouring a couple of glasses of orange juice and another cup of coffee before sitting down to take a bite from his own food.

After finishing his first sandwich, Martin slowly became aware of the fact that Ronnie and Barry had, after sating part of their own hunger, decided to watch him eat, after a few moments of silence, he finally broke.

"Is something wrong?"

For a second he wasn't sure if he'd get an answer, but it didn't take long for Ronnie to pipe up.

"No, we just, we didn't really see you as a peanut butter and jelly person."

He looked down at the second sandwich he was holding, before gently shaking his head.

"Sometimes it's good, besides, with dinner not far away, I didn't want to spoil my appetite, even though, at this point I'm not even sure if I could spoil it."

Both of the younger men nodded in agreement, but still found themselves slowing down their eating a bit as they considered the upcoming meal.

The rest of their time spent in a companionable silence, they steadily made their way through the food in front of them, occasionally stopping to sip a respective drink or idly scratch an itch that wasn't in an embarrassing place.

Finally, with their food finished, the group decided to temporarily part ways. Barry and Oliver had decided to go and look over a few of their previous fights, while Martin and Ronnie had decided to talk about their strange co-existence. Cutting to the chase, Martin asked Ronnie about his dreams, bouncing their thoughts between them, it was quickly noticed that even when separated, they did sometimes share their dreams, although both admitted that they where glad those shared dreams hadn't gotten into some of their more... erotic nighttime experiences, as neither of them had any desire to see each others... fantasies. They also had an in depth discussion regarding the images Martin was able to send earlier in the day.

Finally, they decided to see if they could test their abilities, although not today, the last thing either of them wanted to do was get lost... again.

A quick look at the clock showed them that they'd been talking for a few hours, this was confirmed when Barry poked his head into the room and announced dinner was ready.

pAs if by mutual, unspoken agreement, both men deciding that, for now at least, food was more important than experimentation, moved towards the door to follow the other man to the dining room. They'd figure it out as they went./p


	4. The Care and Feeding of Scientists

Barry, happily out of his Flash uniform and cooking a simple meal, but a large one, looked over at where, for once, Leonard Snart, usually known as Captain Cold, was setting up the table without being asked by someone in this still strange seeming little team. His partner Heatwave was also somewhere around, though for some reason, Barry found himself having more trouble calling the other man by name than he did with Leonard.

It had been nearly a month since the last sighting of one of Vandal Savage's soldiers, or even the man himself, so for now at least, everyone was working on their own ideas and projects. Which was why Oliver and The Atom hadn't been around for the past few evenings. Nor for that matter had The White Canary, who Barry still had trouble adjusting to on occasions.

Along with himself, the former criminal duo and, on this rare occasion, Rip Hunter, both Caitlin and Ronnie were in, as was Doctor Stein, although Barry and Caitlin had both noticed, with a little worry, that he hadn't come down for the last few meals. Confused, Barry turned to where Ronnie was just entering the dining room, it was almost too small when the entire team was around, but normally fit smaller groups quite comfortably. He spoke to the younger half of Firestorm.

"Is Doctor Stein not coming to dinner again tonight?"

Ronnie blinked for a second.

"No, he's been looking through some new research papers on his computer and has been asked to review some of them, but if you could serve some food up after we've finished, I'll take it up to him."

Barry nodded for a moment.

"Good idea, I know how he can get if his work is interrupted."

With that organised, it wasn't long before the food was cooked and ready to be served up. At some point during the start of the meal, Heatwave made an appearance, settling next to his partner just in time to collect his helping. afterwards there was a steady hum of quiet conversation, although a few times it had slowed and stilted when someone accidentally touched on a dangerous subject. Even working together didn't heal all wounds straight away after all.

Finally everyone finished their first plate of food, after which, Caitlin, who was quite full, kindly took on the duty of seeing who would like seconds. Leonard refused, but stuck around as his partner decided he was still hungry, Barry also took a second refill, as did Rip. Smiling as she looked up to see Ronnie standing in front of her without a plate, she asked him to wait a little while so she could fill a clean plate for Doctor Stein. Quietly, he said as she moved back into the kitchen.

"He doesn't like cooked carrots, and only a little bit of corn please."

Nodding, Caitlin turned back into the kitchen, after a couple of minutes, she came back with a plate of sliced roast beef, coupled with mashed potatoes, peas, a small amount of corn and cauliflower with cheese.

Smiling, he took it from her and headed up the stairs with the loaded plate and cutlery.

However, after 10 minutes, Ronnie still hadn't come back down.

Confused, though not all that worried, she quickly asked around to see if anyone wanted a third plate, Barry, it turned out, had overestimated the amount of food needed, and there was a good amount of leftovers, when they all refused, she began setting out storage containers to put all the uneaten food in. After a couple of minutes, Barry popped over to ask if she needed any help. Smiling, she refused, instead asking him something else.

"Could you quickly check on Ronnie and Dr Stein, I'm not that worried, but I was kind of expecting Ronnie to come back down after he'd finished taking the plate up to the doctor and he hasn't yet."

Barry nodded as he made his way up the stairs, he wasn't quiet about it, figuring Ronnie and the doctor had just started talking about their strange circumstances again.

So when he came up to the slightly open door, what he saw surprised him more than a little.

Barry had known that constantly being in each others minds, and regularly sharing a body would change how people behaved around each other, but this seemed a bit more than he was used to considering.

Slightly befuddled, he watched as Ronnie sat next to Doctor Stein, this was not unusual. It wasn't hard to tell that the scientist was very focused on the computer screen in front of him, this also, was not that unusual, the doctor was rather renowned for his ability to focus on his work, sometimes to the detriment of his personal relationships, no, what was unusual was what was happening with the food Ronnie had brought up with him.

On the plate, the roast beef and cauliflower had been cut into bite-size pieces, the mashed potato had been smooshed in with the pumpkin, and the peas and corn was stirred into that.

As Barry watched, Ronnie speared a piece of meat onto the fork he was holding, and proceeded to bring it up to the scientists mouth. As if on auto-pilot, Stein opened his mouth to accept the food being offered to him, chewing it for a while as his eyes moved across the screen in front of him, then swallowing it just as Ronnie dug the fork into the potato, pumpkin etc mix and brought it up again.

It was then Barry realized that this was the first time Ronnie had requested food to bring up to the doctor, apparently the younger man had started getting worried about the older ones health, but until this night, had listened to the others reassurances that he wasn't hungry. It was also a surprise that Martin, who was usually so independant, had given in to Ronnie's worries and allowed himself to be fed.

But the more he thought about it, the more Barry realized that both of these men had spent a lot of time literally inside each others thoughts, They fought together, got injured together... some evenings, after a major battle, they fell asleep together, and, as far as he knew, during those times, they even dreamt together. These two men probably knew more about each other than they had been comfortable sharing with anyone else, even their weaknesses.

Realizing, finally, that he was probably intruding on this oddly domestic moment, even if only Ronnie had noticed him come in, Barry backed out of the room, and at the understandable motion from the other mans head, quietly closing the door behind him.

The last thing he saw through the narrowing crack, was Ronnie spearing up some cauliflower, just as Stein swallowed his previous mouthful.

Going down the stairs and heading into the kitchen, he ran into Caitlin, who had just finished putting the last of the mashed potato into a container and was moving to the cauliflower, the others already long gone.

"They're both fine." He said as he started packing the already filled containers into the fridge. "Just a little busy right now."

She nodded her head a few times.

"That's good, I knew I didn't need to worry, but sometimes I just do."

Barry looked over to her again.

"I get what you mean."

She finished packing the last of the food into it's container.

"OK, since you're here, why don't you do the dishes?"

"Fine, fine, twist my arm."

They stared at each other for a second, before they both gave a small laugh.

"Consider it twisted."


End file.
